1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to software reporting systems and more particularly, to an aiding tool for such systems.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Users of large information technology (IT) systems usually do not understand the underlying data model of the software applications they are using. This situation is typical since the users, being business people, are not responsible for developing the software applications and so a deep understanding of the data model is not necessary. However, over the life cycle of IT business analysis, reporting, for example, of the compliance of business rules and requirements of these software applications, plays an important role. This reporting is usually carried out by business people mainly because the developers of the software application do not always anticipate all of the reporting needs of the users (business people) of their applications.
Many reporting tools are known in the art and are implemented along the life cycle of IT systems and business analytics. Currently reports are typically generated either based on an existing database schema or based on a finite predefined set of developer provided objects that serve as a rigid set of reportable objects which is the basis for the reports. Current solutions offer little or no flexibility as to the scope of the reportable objects and more specifically, to the relationships between data elements of the software application as manifested in the reportable objects.